The video game industry has become big business. According to the Entertainment Software Association, the games industry made $25.1 billion in revenue in 2010, and computer games are played in 72% of US households. A typical PC or console game team employs 50-100 people for 2-3 years, most of them artists and programmers. The DC/Baltimore area is home to a couple dozen game studios.
UMBC has two academic programs for students interested in studies in interactive entertainment and game development. The Visual Arts Department has an undergraduate concentration on Animation and Interactive Media, and the CSEE Department has a track within the Computer Science program on Game Development.
In addition, we have an active student Game Development Club. Students in this club build a couple of games each year, and organize our annual Digital Entertainment Conference.